LindevslinenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Linde is a name, linen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Linde” is a name and “linen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,781
“Linde” frequency rank
#12,805
“linen” frequency rank
53586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Linde linen
Definition A surname from German. Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.

Letter map: Linde vs linen

Shared letters muted; letters that set Linde and linen apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. Linde (CVCCV) and linen (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Linde
5 ch
linen

Grammar separator: Linde vs linen

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Linde is aname and linenanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Linde is recorded at frequency rank #40,781, classified as aname. linen is at rank #12,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɪnɪn/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 53586, this pair ranks #147,797 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Linde vs linen

Shared letters: eiln. Private to "Linde": d. Private to "linen": -.

"Linde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "linen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Linde ← ilnde · lidne · lindde · linnde · llinde · lnide
  • linen ← ilnen · lienn · linenn · linnen · llinen · lnien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Linde" for "linen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Linde" is a name and "linen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Linde" or "linen"?
"linen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,805 in our English list, against #40,781 for "Linde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Linde" and "linen".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Linde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,797 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Linde" and "linen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Linde vs linker". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #147,797 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list